Also facing a budget crisis: Chicago public schools. The city is cutting the schools’ budget by $200 million. [Marketplace]

An insightful article on the former sources of performance art. The author wonders about some outsider sources as well, from Oofty Goofty, a feral man-beast covered in tar, to Mr. Eat It All, a guy who tried to eat a waterbed for a promotional event. [Glasstire]

This is not surprising: art is really popular among the mega-wealthy. JJ Charlesworth talks about the rise of the prices in relation to the new global elite and the concept of scarcity as value. [artnet News]

“Incredibly fast and easy loans against your artworks. 4% Monthly, No Fees. Money tomorrow.”​ The mega-wealthy can now receive low-interest loans from ArtRank by leveraging their art collection as collateral. [Observer]

The Studio Museum in Harlem has just announced that David Adjaye is designing a $122 million new home for the institution. Unfortunately, it looks like this means the current building, which dates from 1914, will be joining the list of historic structures in Harlem that have been demolished in the past few years. [The New York Times]

Horror fans and art-school students, rejoice! This Halloween, you’ll be able to feast your eyes on Art School of Horrors, a Roger Corman production, where “bad art wants revenge.” [IMDB]

Baltimore has awesome bars and creative people—who actually want to be friends with you. [The New York Times]

In China, the exhibition ban on Ai Weiwei has been lifted. The artist remains unable to travel outside the country. [The Art Newspaper]

A piece of public art in Liverpool has been destroyed by vandals. The sculpture was a brass bird with electronics that played recordings of city residents talking about their hopes and dreams. Everyone’s a critic. [Liverpool Echo]

Here’s how to make the American Alliance of Museums angry: Sell artwork from your museum to cover your debts. After William Holman Hunt’s “Isabella and the Pot of Basil” sold for $4.25 million at Christie’s in London, the AAM publicly revoked the museum’s membership and advised all other AAM members against working with them. In other words, they’ve been blacklisted.

Museums can’t buy a new Louis Vuitton bag every time they want to show off their wealth so instead, they display bling by hiring big-name architects to create new and shiny, glass-filled galleries. LACMA will be joining this popularity game with a planned $650 million expansion by the Pritzker prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor. $450 will be allotted for construction with the remaining $200 million set aside for administrative expenses and contingency.